NEXT GENERATION OF ADVANCED COMPOSITE MATERIALS FOR SUSTAINABLE RETROFITTING OF STRUCTURES

ended

Owing to the poor seismic design and the absence of strict energy performance regulations, the vast majority of the existing old building stock in seismic-prone areas is not only highly vulnerable to earthquakes, but also energy demanding. Currently, structural and energy retrofitting of buildings is treated separately with no established holistic approach. An integrated retrofitting system using advanced composite materials combined with thermal insulation can improve the seismic and energy performance of buildings and offer savings in application costs (>25%). During the last two decades, the use of fibre-reinforced composite materials for structural retrofitting applications has gained popularity. The recent generations of advanced composites for construction have proven to be very effective in seismic retrofitting of structures. However, they are often expensive, lead to incompatibility issues, and promote the use of cement-based binders, of which the production largely contributes to the global CO2 emissions (5% of global man-made CO2 emissions). The main objective of THORAX is to develop the next generation of sustainable fibre-reinforced composite materials to be used for the combined structural and energy retrofitting of buildings, protecting the residents during earthquakes, whilst increasing their energy performance. The efficiency of this novel retrofitting system will be investigated through a multi-scale experimental campaign accompanied with a detailed numerical investigation. The host organisation has a leading expertise in the fields of fibre-reinforced composites and seismic retrofitting techniques. This project, along with training schemes available at the host university and secondment at a word-class research centre, will create great opportunities for the Fellow to develop his career as an independent researcher.